Extended Warranty

[jaywolf]

Originally Posted by Betelgeuse

Here's a list of exclusions (taken from here):


Note that not all of these things are actually uncovered; just some of them are covered by other warranties (i.e. the Hybrid components are covered by the hybrid warranty).

for a list of what is cover by category look at
Toyota Financial Services

[pdxrose]

Originally Posted by Orion

ceric -

Thanks to you and all the others that gave opinions and advice. It is much appreciated.

As many Prius owners, I have struggled with the need for the extended warranty. But my record with cars has been spotty. Years ago I had a Cressida. It was a jewel that I ran to 125,000 miles. But at 90,000 miles the manual transmission went totally out and it cost me a bundle. And I am easy on my driving. Before that I had a Corolla and had lots of problems with the drive shaft at about 75,000 miles. And I wouldn't want to bore you with all the problems I have had on domestic cars after the warranty expired.

So I guess I have been burned in the past and need a little POM. Some readers may not be aware that if you sell before the warranty expiration, you can get a pro rata refund on the balance. I got about 80% of my money back because the truck was only 17 months old with 20,000 miles. So I plan to use that to pay for most of the Prius warranty.

Thanks again,

Len

You are correct - you can get a pro-rated refund if you trade or transfer it if you sell privately (makes for more offers when I do). That said, if I had another T model that had the transmission go, as you did, I would spend the $1,065 (7 year 100,000 mile - 0 ded). I have had a transmission go at 23,000 miles but it was not T. I decided to buy it up front since there was no sales tax until 7/31 (waiting would have cost me an instant 8.2% increase). Otherwise, I might have waited longer, hard to know what the price will be in three years. So if you don't need the towing, hotel, etc., then wait until you get to 35,000 miles and re-evaluate. There are several other posts where you will find members giving good pro and con points (excluding the two guys who are broken records about why buying it, even later, cannot possibly be a sound choice). Happy driving

[octavia]

Thought it wise for me to pipe up here. The loaner prius I'm driving now belongs to a friend. Last year, he had some electrical problems with it and upon investigation, the mechanic found that a mouse had built a nice little nest in his car. turns out, he chewed on some wiring and created quite a little disaster. My friend DOES have the extended warranty and they refused to cover it, calling he mouse's assault "an act of God" or something like that.
It was very disappointing for him, he had paid full price for the warranty. Luckily he has a reputable insurance company and full coverage auto insurance and that paid the 5k tab on the repair.
After hearing his story, I lost all interest in the warranty.

[Orion]

Octavia -

Your story is the kind of horror story I worry about. There is so much fine rpint in the contract, it makes your head spin.

I have cancelled the Ext Warranty I had and will wait 35 months and re-evealuate. I had a problem with the contract here in Texas where the Toyota marketing brochure said it covered "ulimited towing" but the actual contract limited it to $100. After many calls, they never actually agreed that the contract was incorrect, and only offered to send a letter of clarification saying it would be "unlimited towing". At that point, I was frustrated and wondered how many other "hidden" things were in the contract that I would have to fight for. (They also came up with a special telephone number I had to call to get it - very strange.)

So, I cancelled. I may just take the advice of many of the members here that recommend not getting the extended warranty at all - it's better and cheaper to self-insure oneself.

Thanks for your input.

[wvgasguy]

Originally Posted by octavia

, the mechanic found that a mouse had built a nice little nest in his car. turns out, he chewed on some wiring and created quite a little disaster. After hearing his story, I lost all interest in the warranty.

OK, many here call the EW an "insurance policy". In some ways it is, but in other ways it is not. Toyota is offering a warranty against defects in their product. Not against neglect, abuse or damage outside thise control. I can't believe anyone would expect Toyota to warrant the car against mice. I just bought a house in the Keys. I have no expectation that they will cover my car for wind or water damage.

[pdxrose]

Originally Posted by wvgasguy

OK, many here call the EW an "insurance policy". In some ways it is, but in other ways it is not. Toyota is offering a warranty against defects in their product. Not against neglect, abuse or damage outside thise control. I can't believe anyone would expect Toyota to warrant the car against mice. I just bought a house in the Keys. I have no expectation that they will cover my car for wind or water damage.

Amen. It does not cover bad judgment or stupidity either . Example; big rain storm (not a hurricane : ) so the streets are flooded in your neighborhood - the P is such a low riding car that if you get water up to the doors, everything might short out (I am not a mechanic). Thus, I bought it because machinery breaks, and again, I always get the cost back by selling privately vs. trading in my car. Sometimes people don't even have a mechanic check it out because they know they are "covered" (should to make sure it was not wrecked but not my problem). So purchasing an EW before the factory warranty end is a no brainer to me (purchasing when car delivered is more subjective). Everyone has a different idea of what is wasting money. To me its people who buy Starbucks coffee. Are they stupid, showing poor judgment, etc. since just one latté a week costs about $208 a year in present value dollars x 7 = $1,456 . No they are not stupid, just have a different value index then me. I don't purchase coffee out; but get a similar warm happy feeling knowing I will not have a big surprise later (and it cost less).

[octavia]

Originally Posted by wvgasguy

OK, many here call the EW an "insurance policy". In some ways it is, but in other ways it is not. Toyota is offering a warranty against defects in their product. Not against neglect, abuse or damage outside thise control. I can't believe anyone would expect Toyota to warrant the car against mice. I just bought a house in the Keys. I have no expectation that they will cover my car for wind or water damage.

You make a good point. I hadn't thought of it that way, I guess.... in the case of the op, what I am seeing is an insurance company mentality.

Lets-figure-out-how-this-is-not-a-warranty-issue, rather than a you-betcha-we-got-yer-back, attitude. I have no desire to pay money to one more entity just so they can then later try to figure out how to get out of giving me the service I think I'm paying for.
If costco were selling the warranty, I'd probably buy it because I know they would have the got-yer-back approach.

[Genoz World]

i too am contemplating on the extended warranty on my 08 because it's getting close to 34K now.

from what i read and hear from here, almost NO ONE has ever used this warranty. yet i've heard people with problems from camry's, corolla's, etc. so here's my question....

IS THE PRIUS THAT SPECIAL?? it seems to be excluded from problems from other toyota lines. is it really that well made? many of the gurus here have opted against the warranty.........sounds really good!

[spiderman]

Originally Posted by Genoz World

IS THE PRIUS THAT SPECIAL?? it seems to be excluded from problems from other toyota lines. is it really that well made? many of the gurus here have opted against the warranty.........sounds really good!

Something is bound to go wrong, the question is wether you want to pay for it now or later. As pointed out, even if you pay for it now, it (the problem) may not be covered.
With that said, there is probably less that will go wrong with the Prius, however the stuff that can go wrong will likely cost many $$$, like the computers. I know when 36K comes around for me I will give the EW a serious consideration. I will be watching closely to see how others here fair in repairs/issues during that time.

[tbh524]

I currently own a 06 Prius and am planning on selling to and getting a 2010 Prius.

This is the car with the "mouse ate the wiring harness" horror story.

Here's my "Extended Warranty story"....

- Bought the EW at purchase time for peace of mind.
- Paid $1500. (yes, I now realize that was too much)
- Dealer told me I could cancel for a *full* refund up to 36,000 miles and get a pro-rated amount back for anything between 36k before 72k.
- I've used it twice,
+ once when one of my floor mats started falling apart
+ again when I changed a flat and the jack broke.
Both times I had to work to get them to honor the "bumper to bumper"
- When I had the mouse incident, they said NO WAY...act of god.
(insurance ended up covering but it counts as a claim against my insurance)
- I went back and forth on whether to sell the car with the warranty or "cash out"
- I decided that since I only have 40-some thousand miles on my car(a few thousand over the original 36,000 warranty), I'd get a decent refund (I figured around $1200) so I faxed in the cancellation form.

My refund was about half of what I expected.
I called the dealer and they said the pro-rated refund is from zero miles...I've "used" over HALF the "extended" warranty.

He explained that for the first 36k it was an "enhanced" warranty for the original 36,000 miles.

Well, I guess I'll take the hit for believing the sales guy who sold me the warranty...he lied and I fell for it...but I'm not buying the warranty upfront again...learned my lesson there.
I'll wait till I approach 36k on the new one and decide if it's worth it then.

I'm still angry in retrospect about being denied on the mouse issue...there's a little unsealed compartment that's perfect for a mouse house and he'd obviously been living there for some time before eating up the wires.
I read the post where someone called that an insurance issue but isn't that what my "enhanced" warranty I paid big bucks for was?? It was sold to me as if anything goes wrong that's not a standard wear part (like wiper blades), a wreck, or an issue due to my negligence (never change the oil..etc) it would be taken care of.